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SARS-CoV-2 and RT-PCR Testing in Travelers: Results of a Cross-sectional Study of Travelers at Iraq’s International Borders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2022

Doaa Abdulkhaleq Salih ,
Jivan Qasim Ahmed ,
Marwan Khalil Qader ,
Mohammed S. Shukur ,
Bayar K. A. Zeebaree ,
Mateen Bahjat Sadeq ,
Sirwan Najeeb Mohammed ,
Hushank Nadhmi Masiha ,
Ibrahim Mohammed Abdullah  and
Omar Mohammed
...Show all authors
Doaa Abdulkhaleq Salih*
Affiliation:
Ibrahim Al-Khalil Border Crossing Coronavirus Testing Center Directorate General of Health, Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Jivan Qasim Ahmed
Affiliation:
Ibrahim Al-Khalil Border Crossing Coronavirus Testing Center Department of pathology and Microbiology, University of Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
Marwan Khalil Qader
Affiliation:
Ibrahim Al-Khalil Border Crossing Coronavirus Testing Center College of Science, University of Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
Mohammed S. Shukur
Affiliation:
Ibrahim Al-Khalil Border Crossing Coronavirus Testing Center Department of surgery and medicine, University of Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
Bayar K. A. Zeebaree
Affiliation:
Ibrahim Al-Khalil Border Crossing Coronavirus Testing Center Department of surgery and medicine, University of Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
Mateen Bahjat Sadeq
Affiliation:
Ibrahim Al-Khalil Border Crossing Coronavirus Testing Center Zanist Family Medicine Centre, Directorate General of Health, Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Sirwan Najeeb Mohammed
Affiliation:
Ibrahim Al-Khalil Border Crossing Coronavirus Testing Center
Hushank Nadhmi Masiha
Affiliation:
Ibrahim Al-Khalil Border Crossing Coronavirus Testing Center
Ibrahim Mohammed Abdullah
Affiliation:
Ibrahim Al-Khalil Border Crossing Coronavirus Testing Center Medical Lab Technology Department, College of Health and Medical Technology-Shekhan, Duhok Polytechnic University, Iraq
Omar Mohammed
Affiliation:
Ibrahim Al-Khalil Border Crossing Coronavirus Testing Center Preventive Health Affairs Directorate, Directorate General of Health, Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Luqman Saleh Taha
Affiliation:
Duhok Central Public Health Laboratory, Duhok, Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Rawand Al-Qadi
Affiliation:
Ibrahim Al-Khalil Border Crossing Coronavirus Testing Center Duhok Central Public Health Laboratory, Duhok, Kurdistan Region of Iraq
*
Corresponding author: Doaa Abdulkhaleq Salih, Email: doaa.salih@duhokhealth.org
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Abstract

Background:

In late 2019, a novel coronavirus was detected in Wuhan, China, that caused a pandemic by September 2021, resulting in 224,180,411 cases and more than 4,600,000 deaths worldwide. In response to the pandemic, the Autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) imposed strict infection control measures at its borders for all travelers from neighboring countries, wherein each traveler was subjected to a mandatory reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test on arrival to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infected travelers. The aim of this study is to determine the rate of infection with SARS-CoV-2 among the travelers entering Kurdistan region through Ibrahim Al-Khalil crossing point with Turkey as a predictor for the upcoming infection waves.

Methods:

The data of RT-PCR tests to detect SARS-CoV-2 in all travelers arriving at the Ibrahim Al-Khalil Border Crossing between Iraq and the Republic of Turkey were reviewed from August 21, 2020 to August 21, 2021.

Results:

It was found that there were 9873 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections among 1,082,074 travelers during the study period.

Conclusions:

This study shows the importance of mass testing of travelers at border crossings to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Type
Brief Report
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 16 , Issue 6 , December 2022 , pp. 2422 - 2424
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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